Sea Isle City

Jarrod's aunt has a house in New Jersey! It's not right on the ocean, but it may as well be. A mere three houses down is the beach entrance:

Thar she blows! I took this picture on a solo morning walk around 8:30 AM. During the height of the day it's largely packed with beachgoers. It was sunny and nice all 3 days we were there, save one day that it got windy in the afternoon. We did so many fun activities. I read News to Me under my hat. We made a labor-intensive but not-so-impressive sand castle. I spent many hours looking for pretty seashells or a shark tooth, to no avail. We played paddle ball in the ocean. On the windy afternoon, Jarrod took the sea kayak out to brave the waves.

Mystery tracks, likely ghost crabs:

The most fun activity we did was probably kayaking inland to find turtles.  

The area is known for the terrapin turtles that live and nest here. Lisa (the aforementioned aunt) instructed us where to go to see them en masse. 

The turtles were very elusive. A lot of the trip was waiting very quietly in hopes we could sneak up on them around the bend. Their little heads would duck under the water long before we could see the rest of them. In the picture below, you can see one just right of center---a teeny white dot.

The bird-watching was much easier than the turtle-watching. We saw so many nesting laughing gulls (I think that's what they are). They were not shy in the least.

I think this one is a snowy egret. Jarrod was so excited to take its picture. We did finally see a whole herd of turtles! Sunning themselves up on the mud, a score of turtles clamored into the water as we came around a corner. Alas, the best picture I ended up getting of one was this nugget in the parking lot:

🐢🚸🐢🚸🐢🚸🐢🚸🐢🚸🐢🚸🐢🚸🐢🚸🐢

Back at the house, we gamed and puzzled in the evenings. I taught Jarrod's family how to play SET and they enjoyed it immensely. For dinner one night, Nana (pictured above at the end of the table) made 44 meatballs and homemade sauce (pictured below).

L O V E   Y O U   A L L   💙